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In defiance of my birthday, I decided to do something very scary… arrange a Fabulous 40 Photo Shoot for myself. The experience ended up being super fun and helped usher in a new decade of my life!

I’m one of those moms who are usually behind the camera and very rarely photographed in family photos. We’ve all been there – the image of ourselves in our own heads is very different from the image we see in photos. In my mind, I’m still in my mid-twenties because that’s the way I feel. But photos tell another story, and I usually inwardly cringe when I see them. Booking a birthday photo shoot was my way of thumbing my nose at 40 and getting good with myself as I am NOW. It was surprisingly liberating!

Planning a Fabulous 40 Photo Shoot

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Age: I did this for my 40th, but you can do it for any milestone birthday you want – 21, 30, 50. They’re all great numbers!

Theme: Fabulous 40 with a touch of Wonder Woman

Location: My friend’s neighborhood

Cost: Photography, decorations & photo props all cost me around $150, and I did it on the cheap. You could go all out for around $250 with an indoor studio photo shoot and lots more props, or take a more DIY approach than I did and spend a lot less.

Photographer: Choosing a photographer you feel comfortable with is key. For me that was my friend and photographer, Beth Ridgeway. She knew exactly what to do and say to help me relax and enjoy the experience. She also had lots of prop and location ideas.

Cake and Photo Props

I decided to go with a cute cupcake from Edgar’s Bakery that was $4.50, but you could get a tiny cake that’s a work of art itself from Pizzelle’s Confections for about $7.00. It was difficult to find a stand for a single cupcake so I made my own by purchasing a decorative milk bottle and a candle holder from the Dollar Store and hot gluing them together. Voila! A little cupcake stand for less than $3.

I found the “Older & Wiser” sign in the $1 bin at Target, and the helium balloons were only $1 each at Publix.

The birthday chalkboard was made by a friend of Beth’s and cost $30. Another option would be to purchase the chalkboard design on Etsy and get it printed up at Staples, then glue it to a piece of particle board.

I adore Wonder Woman, and thought that would be an appropriate theme for the shoot, but I didn’t want to go overboard. We kept it to primary colors with a basic black WW t-shirt and a few whimsical Wonder Woman touches. Personally, I wasn’t thrilled with the popular “smash cake” photo option so we had the single cupcake instead. But if you want to smash, go for it!

I highly recommend booking Fabulous Grownup Birthday Photo Shoot, and created a Pinterest board full of great ideas for you to get started planning. This is completely customizable – that’s the beauty of making it your own now that you’re “aged to perfection”.

Do you want to participate and share your personal party experience with other Huntsville parents? Just fill out our secure submission form here.

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